American citzenship

whitebeard

Could anyone tell me straight out if you have being in my situation. My Grandfather was born in New York in 1932 which I only found out recently,I was told I would be able to apply for citizenship with him having an American birth cert.How true would this be .Help Please

silja

Incorrect, unless your parent(s) were also born in the USA: http://dublin.usembassy.gov/service/passports-and-citizen-services/eligibility-for-citizenship6.html

whitebeard

If my Mother applies for hers as it is her father and then my Dad would be eligible as he is her Husband therefore would I be able to get one that way.

silja

No.
Your mother MAY be able to get it, depending on how long grandad was in the USA. Your dad cannot get it on the basis of being married to a US citizen, unless the two of them move to the USA, he gets a greencard, and three years later gets citizenship. You cannot get it on the basis of your mom and/or dad having citizenship if they never lived inside the USA.

The only way to citizenship for you is if your mom is elligible, gets citizenship, moves to the USA, petitions you for an immigrant visa and then you move to the USA, get a greencard and 5 years later US citizenship.;

whitebeard

Thanks very much for the advice.
One more Question. Would you be absolutely sure about what you just said.

Ponster

whitebeard wrote: »

One more Question. Would you be absolutely sure about what you just said.

Yes. All of the information is available on the Embassy site but not as clearly stated as silja put it.

Unlike some other countries (e.g. Ireland, UK) there is a residency requirement besides being related to someone born in the US.

whitebeard

It just sounds so easy for somebody to get citizenship if you are living in America and your Grandad was born in Ireland, you could just nearly walk in to the country (Ireland) but when the table is turned its sounds very confusing. Why cant all Countries have the same policy for citizenship if you have a blood related relative born in that country.

Ponster

whitebeard wrote: »

It just sounds so easy for somebody to get citizenship if you are living in America and your Grandad was born in Ireland, you could just nearly walk in to the country (Ireland) but when the table is turned its sounds very confusing. Why cant all Countries have the same policy for citizenship if you have a blood related relative born in that country.

It's impossible to compare the two countries. In the 1980's it was possible for wealthy businessmen to purchase Irish passports. Ireland's system is seriously out of date though there have been improvements recently (having a baby in Ireland no longer makes you automatically eligible for citizenship).

Why does a country own anything to someone who hasn't been born in that country? (i.e. children of US citizens born outside of the US can become American but are not automatically US citizens)

In Germany you can be born in the country but if you're parents haven't being living there for more than 8 years then you are not German! (applies to non EU citizens ). Trust me, the US system is more 'normal' than ours

whitebeard

Ponster wrote: »

It's impossible to compare the two countries. In the 1980's it was possible for wealthy businessmen to purchase Irish passports. Ireland's system is seriously out of date though there have been improvements recently (having a baby in Ireland no longer makes you automatically eligible for citizenship).

Why does a country own anything to someone who hasn't been born in that country? (i.e. children of US citizens born outside of the US can become American but are not automatically US citizens)

In Germany you can be born in the country but if you're parents haven't being living there for more than 8 years then you are not German! (applies to non EU citizens ). Trust me, the US system is more 'normal' than ours

How is it then that say for example a soccer player e.g O' Dea for Ireland plays with Ireland because he is not good enough for USA can play for Ireland yet not live in Ireland and his parents are not living in Ireland but all live in USA, he now can get citzenship in Ireland because he has blood related family. It happens allot this way in other countries as well. Do you understand me. "A bit all over the shop here sorry"

silja

Ireland has rules that suit Ireland- they WANTED (at least until recently) people to become Irish citizens and possibly come to live in Ireland. America has the opposite problem, lots of people want to go there.

ProudDUB

silja wrote: »

Ireland has rules that suit Ireland- they WANTED (at least until recently) people to become Irish citizens and possibly come to live in Ireland. America has the opposite problem, lots of people want to go there.

That's it in a nutshell really. Rightly or wrongly, America is still the land of milk and honey for a big chunk of the planets population (and by a big chunk, I mean millions and millions of people) who would move over there if given half a chance. Ireland has never been that kind of country. We can afford to have a more relaxed approach when it comes to who does and does not qualify for citizenship of our country. The US can't.

Ponster

whitebeard wrote: »

How is it then that say for example a soccer player e.g O' Dea for Ireland plays with Ireland because he is not good enough for USA can play for Ireland yet not live in Ireland and his parents are not living in Ireland but all live in USA, he now can get citzenship in Ireland because he has blood related family. It happens allot this way in other countries as well. Do you understand me. "A bit all over the shop here sorry"

> It happens allot this way in other countries as well.

Not really. It happens in Europe but not a whole lot outside of Europe.

People are often surprised by how difficult it is to move to the US, either to live or work. People get annoyed in this forum when they discover that they can't simply move to the US and work for 3, 6 or 12 months.

Cushie Butterfield

whitebeard wrote: »

Would you be absolutely sure about what you just said.

If you have your heart set on living in or moving to the US there are other avenues open to you, mostly through education & qualifications.

Firstly, you should enter the annual Diversity Immigrant Visa Program,which, if you were accepted would allow you to live & work permanently in the US, get a green card & eventually allow you to apply for citizenship.

I'm guessing you're probably aged 15 to 25. You could explore the possibility of a J1 visa to begin with. After qualifying from college you could then explore a longer stay on any of the qualification based visas. At that stage other opportunities may present themselves - you'd never know you might fall in love with a US citizen & decide to get married etc., in which case they could petition for you to live with them over there, get a green card & eventually apply for citizenship.

Another possibility is getting work in Ireland with a US based parent company (e.g. Google, SAP etc). It may be possible to get a temporary inter-company transfer to the US, which again may lead to something more permanent.

So don't give up at the first hurdle. Explore & familiarise yourself with the different types of non-immigrant & immigrant visas on the USCIS website http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis or the US State Dept website http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html , set yourself a goal & work towards that.

dave2pvd

whitebeard wrote: »

Why cant all Countries have the same policy for citizenship.

Why should they?

rockonollie

whitebeard wrote: »

How is it then that say for example a soccer player e.g O' Dea for Ireland plays with Ireland because he is not good enough for USA can play for Ireland yet not live in Ireland and his parents are not living in Ireland but all live in USA, he now can get citzenship in Ireland because he has blood related family. It happens allot this way in other countries as well. Do you understand me. "A bit all over the shop here sorry"

There's a big difference between FIFA eligibility rules and right to citizenship.....can't really use soccer as a comparison.

Corrimbla

O'Dea is from Dublin anyway so your point is void.